Education Posts

Thursday, December 14, 2006

WSHL Dispersal

It's posted on the WSHL's website, but I'll toss it here as well for discussion purposes:

The following is a list of the Tucson Tilt Draft List.

Only the team who drafted the player may contact the player. If the player chooses not to participate or wants a trade from that team, the normal compensation claim fee will be paid if the player ends up at another WSHL team. Any team that contacts a drafted player prior to notice from the league office will pay a $500 tampering fine.

I have a couple of issues with this. First off, is there any reason why the Midwest Division is not allowed to participate? After all, they are in the league, aren't they? It can't be due to the players universally residing in the Western Division footprint, because at least two players, and possibly more, don't. I guess this makes Midwest Division teams second class citizens.

Second issue, coming as no surprise, is that a number of players are noticeably absent... presumably over the issue of scholarships/unpaid tuition (however you'd like to frame it). In my opinion, the WSHL and USA Hockey effectively have turned these players into free agents. How is that, you might ask? Well, if the players owe approximately $2,000 (since we're about a third of the way into the season) to get them "up to date," what is to prevent an enterprising team from paying it on behalf of the player?

Ahhhh, the law of unintended consequenses. Rather than disperse everyone equitably, the league has assured the "haves" of possessing a greater opportunity to acquire the Tilt's top talent than the "have nots."